By Riëtte van Laack – On Friday April 22, 2011, a customer slapped Bayer HealthCare LLC (“Bayer”) with a class action suit in California federal court accusing Bayer of falsely and deceptively advertising the benefits of its Phillips Probiotics Colon Health (“PPCH”) supplements. The complaint alleges …
By Ricardo Carvajal - The Atlantic’s second annual Food Summit in Washington, DC brought together speakers and attendees with divergent views on questions of how to ensure sustainability of the food supply, improve the availability and affordability of foods, and address the problem of obesity. On one …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Senate has adopted legislation that would strengthen criminal penalties "for any individual or corporation that knowingly endangers American lives by contaminating the food supply by distributing misbranded or tainted food products" (see Sen. Leahy's press release here). The legislation provides for …
By Wes Siegner & Cassandra A. Soltis – There has been a buzz in the trade press and industry over when a company is required under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ("FDC Act") to submit to the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") a 75-day …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – After more than fifteen years of related cases in the larger matter of The First Amendment v. Dietary Supplement Health Claims, FDA mostly won one. And its winning card? Knowing that the courts will not, and cannot, independently assess whether the …
By Cassandra A. Soltis – In an opinion dated April 6, 2011, Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment for the FDA in a case challenging the dietary supplement good manufacturing practice (“GMP”) regulations. Alliance for Natural …
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara's Ricardo Carvajal will be speaking on the Reportable Food Registry at the American Conference Institute’s 2nd Advanced Summit on Food Safety Regulatory Compliance, taking place in Chicago from June 15-16, 2011. See here for a copy of the brochure and to register …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA has a web page devoted to the Food Safety Modernization Act (“FSMA”) that provides ready access to useful information on the new law and on FDA’s implementation activities, including: the text of the law; Q&A’s; descriptions of the work groups charged with implementation; the text …
By Ricardo Carvajal – At FDA’s public meeting on the food import safety provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act ("FSMA") (see our prior blog posting here), the challenges posed by implementation of those provisions started to take shape. Presentations by agency personnel, industry representatives, and …
By Riëtte van Laack – Approximately three years ago, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") filed a complaint against Daniel Chapter One and James Fijio (“DCO”) for the advertising of four dietary supplements as cures for various cancers. The FTC ruled that DCO’s claims were deceptive and …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Supreme Court affirmed a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allows a securities fraud class action to go forward against Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. ("Matrixx") for allegedly violating § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5. As …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Last week FDA published a Q&A that explains steps the agency is taking to ensure that foods imported from Japan are safe. Currently FDA does not believe there is any risk to the U.S. food supply, but is continuing to gather information …
By Riëtte van Laack – On March 4, 2011, FDA issued a warning letter to Goetze’s Candy Co. Inc., because the addition of calcium to Goetze’s Caramel Cream Chocolate goes against FDA’s food fortification policy, 21 C.F.R. § 104.20. Goetze marketed its product with the (impermissible) …
By Jennifer D. Newberger – One of the tasks of the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) is to make recommendations that will result in cost savings and/or improvements in program efficiency and effectiveness. Unfortunately, as we are …
By Ricardo Carvajal - In an upcoming issue of the Federal Register, FDA is announcing a public meeting scheduled for March 29 to solicit comment on the import safety provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act ("FSMA"). At the meeting, appropriately titled “Food Safety Modernization Act; …
